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Dedicating this chapter to JSPisMe cause why not? ;)
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"I am coming with you."

"No."

"I'm coming with you!"

"No!"

"I said I'm coming with you!"

"And I said NO!"

"But I-"

"Why do you want to come with so badly anyway?" Wendy asked, exasperated.

"Ah will you two quit it already?" Gray complained, letting out an irritated sigh. "And Natsu, it's not like Lucy needs protecting. She took down that monster in the forest earlier. She'll be fine."

"I-what?"

"Oh?" Gray kept the flyer he was reading earlier down, leaning on the table, an amused expression on his face. "Isn't that why you want to go in the first place? Because of Lucy?"

"T-That's not it!"

"Liar." Gray was smug now.

"Hey you wanna go ice boy?!"

"Bring it on flame brain I ain't afraid!"

"Whatever he totally liiiikessssssss her~" Happy chimed, laughing gleefully.

"Not you too buddy!"

"Who would've thought a day like this with Natsu would come?"

"Okay that's it ice freak! Now you're asking for it!"

"Yeah okay ash breath!"

"Both of you stop this instant or I'm going to tell Erza!" Wendy yelled.

Just at the mention of her name, Gray and Natsu, who were headbutting moments ago froze, going rigid and moving away with scared expressions on their faces. Wendy sighed, flopping back down on the chair. Playing the part of the peacemaker was exhausting.

"Woah what's up with those two?"

The four heads turned to face Lucy who had just come in, wiping her hands off on her apron. Happy bounced up, flying over and flopping down on her shoulder.

"They remembered how terrifying Erza can be~" he laughed, munching on his fish.

"You ready?!" Wendy got up excitedly, straightening her dress.

"Yeah just let me try and fix this monsterosity up." she chuckled, pointing at her messy hairdo.

"Let me do that for you. Sit down 'kay?"

Wendy forced Lucy down on a chair and the blonde took a seat with the thump, while the sky maiden busied herself with fixing her hair. Lucy meanwhile looked around and about in the room, occasionally petting Happy who was now in her lap.

"Why the long face Natsu?"

The dragon slayer was sitting down with a sour expression, looking away.

"Oh he's okay! Just a bit upset that he can't tag along with me and you!"

"You wanted to?" Lucy asked and Natsu let out an audible sigh, looking forward to face her now.

"Yeah..kinda..maybe.."

"Why didn't you just say that before?"

"You'd let me tag along then?" Natsu asked, hopeful.

Lucy's smile turned apologetic, as she shook her head slightly. "Well..erm..not exactly..Erza left a while ago right? If you're fast, you might catch up with her."

His face fell, and he flopped further down, mumbling something along the lines of 'But I wanted to go with you..'

"Sorry Natsu! But Lucy promised to spend time with me this evening!"

"Well then I call dibs on her for later today!"

"It'll be night then flame for brains! Call dibs tomorrow."

"Shut up you ice freak!"

"You wanna start this hot head?"

"Come on!" Wendy said gently, taking Lucy's hand. "Let's go. They'd be at it for a while."

"O-Okay. Happy? Make sure that they don't tear the place down?"

"Whaaaat?" Happy whined. "But I wanted to go with!"

"No can do Happy~" Wendy said in a sing-song tone. "It's just me and her for now!"

With this, before the exceed could even reply, Wendy bolted out of the café, dragging Lucy along. The blonde tried to keep up with her pace, wondering what on Earth would go down that evening.

•••

"Wow! It's all so pretty!"

Wendy looked around in amazement, watching the colourful lanterns outlining the town streets with sparkles in her eyes. The sun had already set and the whole marketplace was lit up with lanterns, making the scene even more picturesque.

"You like it now?" Lucy asked chuckling. "Then wait until tomorrow. You'd certainly be blown away."

"Tomorrow?" she asked, confused, looking back at her. Then, her face brightened up when she realised what Lucy was saying and clapped her hands in exitement. "Oh Oh! The Midsummer's festival is tomorrow! Right?"

"Ding Ding Ding! And we have a winner!"

Wendy giggled, until Lucy suddenly yanked her to a side, over to a stall.

"Look over here! Yukatas!"

"They really are pretty!" Wendy agreed. "But er.."

"It's a tradition to wear one on the festival here." Lucy explained. "You should get one! For Erza too! And traditional robes for the boys!"

"But-"

"C'mon! Do it! It'll be no fun to experience the festival otherwise."

And so the girls spent the next hour or so shopping for yukatas and robes, having fun hunting around for the perfect accessories to go along with all of it. Lucy and Wendy now walked the streets holding one big bag each, while their other hand held onto candy apples.

"That was quite the haul." Wendy said, satisfied. "I had so much fun!"

"I'm glad." Lucy smiled, taking a bite of her treat.

"It must be so fun for you. Experiencing something like this every year."

"Actually erm.."

"Hm?"

"It'd be my first time too. Experiencing the festival."

Wendy's eyes widened and she looked at the latter in disbelief. "What?!" she blurted out. "But-But I thought-"

"Yeah I know.." Lucy mumbled nervously. "I came here a little over a year ago. After the festival that is. But I've just heard so much about it that it feels like I've already been to one. Weird huh?"

"I..actually not that much when I think about it now. Something similar like this happened to me when I first joined Fairy Tail."

"Really?"

"Yeah! During the rainbow Sakura viewing. Me and L-"

Wendy stopped abruptly and Lucy's heart skipped a beat. Wendy stood silent like she was in a trance, staring straight into nothingness.

"Wendy?"

She broke from her reverie and stared at Lucy in disbelief. "I..I'm sorry..I just..I feel like..I.."

Lucy felt nauseous with it all, staring at the bluenette who was deep in concentration. It was when she suddenly clutched her head that Lucy took action.

"Hey! Take it easy!"

"But I..but I feel like I'm forgetting something important and..ughh this headache isn't making things any better!"

"Don't stress yourself too much! You'll remember it once you relax." Lucy said, knowing full well that the possibility was a little to none. "Let's take a seat okay?"

Wendy nodded, sitting down on a nearby bench. Lucy offered her some water, which she gratefully accepted.

"Feeling better now? Does your head still hurt?"

"Just a little bit.." Wendy mumbled, still looking down, her bangs covering her face. However Lucy didn't need to see her face to know that she was still shocked and confused.

"Hey where's Carla? I didn't see her around much today." Lucy asked, hoping to lighten up the mood.

"She's with Erza. Apparently she had something to talk with her. So they both took off before us."

"With Erza huh.." Lucy repeated, somehow feeling a bit uneasy about the pairing. However, she didn't voice it out, instead sighing and looking up at the sky.

"So..what's your story?"

"Hm?"

"Your hand. Why do you keep it bandaged? Were you hurt?"

"I..well.."

"If you were I can heal it for you. Or at least try to."

Lucy gave a gentle smile, caressing her bandaged right hand.

"Some wounds run too deep to be healed.."

"Lucy.."

"It's nothing!" the blonde gave out a fake laugh. "I was indeed hurt badly a few years ago.. but it's okay now. I like it the way it is. It reminds me of what I once had."

"Does this have anything to do with your erased existence?"

Lucy's eyes widened, and she looked sideways with a start to face Wendy, only to find her already looking at her.

"What?"

"Erza told me about it. Is..is it true after all?"

For a moment Lucy was silent, at a complete loss of what to say next. However, she soon forced out a laugh, shaking her head.

"That woman.." she said, her voice shaking. "She can't even take a joke!"

"Lucy." Wendy pleaded, grabbing her hand. "Please. You can talk to us about it. You can talk to me about it."

"There is nothing to talk about Wendy." Lucy said, pushing away her hand and getting up. "It was a joke, that's all."

"Just tell me something! Have we met before? If what you said about your existence was true, even a tiny bit, am I one of those who had known you? Am I now one of those who forgot about you?"

Lucy smiled sadly, barely able to control her tears from falling. Her heart ached and she wanted nothing more than to run and hug her, confessing everything.

The more she looked at Wendy and her beseeching expression, the more did this feeling overwhelm her. So she finally turned away, afraid of what would happen if she continued for just a second longer.

She knew she could not do what she wanted to, no matter how much it killed her.

"No." she finally breathed out. "You're not."

•••
Hello and welcome!

Tehee
New chapter lol! It's been a longggg while XD
So..how was it? Did you like it? What do you think?

Please vote, comment and share! I look forward to ur comments and thoughts ^•^

Until then!
Belle🌸
🔥♥🔑